Certainly tables are one of the most versatile pieces of furniture available for use in buildings. Such is true regardless of whether the building is intended for residential or business purposes.
The table remains one of the most functional furniture articles on the market today. Sales of dining tables total astronomical sums. Special application tables such as card and game tables proliferate, and such items are commonly seen available for purchase in shopping centers and malls.
Even beyond the functional aspects of tables, however, they possess decorative qualities which make them desirable for non-functional purposes. Tables are used for supporting knick-knacks, plants, statuary, etc. In fact, the decorative applications for tables are limited only by the imagination.
Tables vary in terms of their construction. That is, while some are intended to be of substantially one-piece construction in that, once any component parts are assembled, they are intended to remain in an assembled configuration, other tables are intended to be easily assembled and disassembled. Typically, the type of construction will be dicated by intended use and application.
In the case of disassemblable tables, manufacturers are presented with problems because of the numerous component parts necessary in view of various standard sizes of tables which are typically made available on the market. The problem is further aggrevated by the fact that there is a demand for "custom" sizes.
Storage space limitations arise and, in some situations, can be critical. Tables of the type which are easily assemblable and disassemblable typically include relatively standard legs which can be interchanged from one table to another. Frames which mate to the legs and support the table top, however, have no standardization or universality. It is apparent that, as the size of the table top increases or decreases, the size of the support frame members must increase or decrease commensurately. It quickly becomes clear to someone entering a market for such products that, unless the company is to be content to sell one or only a few standard sizes of tables, a large component storage facility must be available. By limiting the types of products sold by the company, however, the company becomes less competitive in the marketplace.
Another problem, the potential of which can be devastating to a new business enterprise, is the requirement for purchase of welding equipments and other major capital investments. Particularly in this age of robotic technology, such capital outlays can be preclusive to the entering into a new endeavor.
In response to this particular problem, attempts have been made to develop readily assemblable and disassemblable tables where welding is unnecessary. Attempts have been made to provide tables wherein the legs can be attached and detached from frame support members without welding. One illustration of such an attempt is Swiss patent No. 398,920 which issued on Mar. 15, 1966. That patent illustrates a system wherein support frame members are mated to the legs quickly and easily and without any requirement for welding on the part of the assembly.
Systems as illustrated in that document, however, yet retain certain drawbacks. For example, mating of the various major components and fittings can be a slow process. Because of the relatively intricate connections necessary to be made and the inflexible, fixed positions of various of the fittings, assembly can be difficult to the point of causing undesirable slow-downs. Such delays can be significant, and they can translate into substantial loss of revenues.
It is to these problems of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It includes apparatus for facilitating the mating of components such as those of a quickly assemblable and disassemblable table. It provides for the avoidance of substantial welding requirements without sacrificing speed of assembly.